Monday, June 02, 2008

Some Women Flippin'

Let it not become a party of one-trick ponies!

We can hope and work toward seeing that the relentless disappointment of Democratic women supporting Hillary Clinton serves the nation, the party, women and just good politics. If sufficient of them act out, that could set us all — and particularly women — back decades.

This came to mind from press reports covering the seating of the renegade Michigan and Florida primary delegates. For example, New York Times' Jeff Zeleny filed:

Supporters of Mrs. Clinton jeered the decision, loudly booing and hissing the members of the group as their faces were shown on a large screen in the room.

One woman, wearing a blue “Team Hillary” shirt, shoved a man in a suit and tie with a small Obama button on his lapel. Another woman in a white Clinton shirt hung her head in her hands.

“That was a crime!” a man shouted. “McCain in 08! McCain in 08!” a woman yelled from the back of the room. “No-bama! No-bama!”

Passion is wonderful, can be beautiful and is often part of political campaigns. However, such spite and stated willingness to sacrifice the greater good are not and should never be.

There are bound to be a few outliers. Some of the electorate could never vote for a woman. Others could never vote for a man. Others could never vote for a Black person. Some may say if their candidate loses, they'll do what they can to screw the one who won, no matter how much it hurts the rest of us.

I can try to retain some detachment here. There are bound to be sexist women who just can't bring themselves to vote for the man, particularly the man who defeated their woman. We can hope that's a small number. Party officials and former Dem candidates can remind them, repeatedly, what's at stake — Supreme Court appointments as well as reversing and halting desolation and death from GOP administrations.

Plus, John McCain should help our cause considerably here. When the two-candidate comparisons start in earnest, the contrasts will much plainer than those between Hillary and Barack.Tags: massmarrier, McCain, Clinton, Obama, sexism